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Programmatically Controlled Juicer
An anonymous reader writes "The Juicer is a wirelessly controlled, programmable juice maker which will mix each ingredient of a recipe to the exact proportions every time.
The Juicer will take a recipe selection serially via either the keyboard or the wireless remote and dispense the juices into the cup below. Force and Photo sensors are incorporated to control the precise pouring. Wireless communication is controlled with two microcontrollers operating at a frequency of 433 MHz. All of this is housed by a big red frame custom made from 4130 steel."
This thing looks pretty frikkin' sweet. So I could put oranges in one slot, a grape fruit in the other, and pour vodka and ice in the third, and it would make me a fresh squeezed "breakfast smoothie?" I'll take two!
It's more of a juice mixer than a juicer. I had envisioned something that took fruit and turned it into juice. This was a bit of a let down.
Don't take life so seriously. No one makes it out alive.
I read that story and the first thing I think is, COOL I am buying one. Then I RTFA and find out its just some bored Cornell students with no jobs and too much free time on their hands. Thanks again Slashdot!
-- Please insert another quarter
Will this be the kind, benign wireless juice making machine, or the bad-mouthed, citrus-raping kind?
The Juicer will take a recipe selection serially via either the keyboard or the wireless remote and dispense the juices into the cup below.
Is this a design flaw, or is it specifically aimed at the type of people who always leave their TV-remotes beside the TV?
Unfortunately, I am not Wil Wheaton
Hmmm wireless. Now I only need someone (or something) to bring the juice to me.
Mod me down, but I don't really approve mechanized perfection. Somehow making juice with exact proportions everytime frightens me.. There's got to be a little human in it. Juice may be a small thing now, but as we go on trying to make perfect stuff using machines and not with human hands... Kind of reminds me a little like Stepford's Wives.
... and I shall strike upon thee with great vegeance, furious anger and a slightly positive karma.
Google Talk id 200
The Wireless Bartender. Yes, even you can host coolest parties. Wireless Bartender not only comes with a comprehensive list of drinks, but allows you to create new and exciting drinks.
Coming to a frat party near you.
Prof Frink: "Finally, the perfect recipe for mixing juice. It turns out the secret ingredient is... love!? Who's been tampering with this thing?"
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
... if it also distillated them :-)
Why can't
"Again, safety was always a concern from the start. We did not compensate anyone's health, reputation, or employment during our creation of the Juicer."
Safety? What was their test drink? The Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster?
Sorry, couldn't resist. Just saw the movie!
A juice machine that mixes juice for you. I could see some applications towards commercial places selling "custom juices." But its pretty damn self defeating idea for personal use. Most people that have juicers are trying to get healthy, whats the point if you sit on your ass and make juice from the couch?
Humanity is too fixated on making physical activity easier and less stressing on the body. Seems like a bad idea. Next thing you know there'll be a WiFi robot that takes dumps for you.
Are these cans suitable to contain fat and acids that might be in the juice (as opposed to usual minear water)? :D
Ditto for the white paint? Is the latter highly water--resistant and washable?
Can the whole appliance be easily cleaned, including the valves?
Is the electrical circuit insulated properly to work in a device that might spill liquids?
Anyway, whether it is ready for a long, safe and reliable use or not, it's an interesting project for fun and learning. Mixing scents instead and transmitting them by pipes to some 4--channel fans would perhaps make a nice scent and wind card
the barmonkey: http://www.barmonkey.net/
The atmel controller is NOT running at 433mhz. the wireless link is transmitting at 433mhz. the controllers are they typical OTS 20mhz controllers and this could easily be done with any 4mhz pic.
There really is nothing too complicated with this setup, elegant use of a manufacturered bottle/container that solves one of the engineering problems, but the rest of it is fairly basic in design and implimentation.
It certianly would add a tad bit of "coolness" at a party, but as far as being "food grade" and not grossing out some people by the exposed troughs that carry the "juices" to the cup. Hoses attacted to the bottles would be cleaner and have a higher acceptance lever with some of the more "picky" people in this world.
On a side note, it would have been easier but not cheaper to get older pepsi or coke pre-mix containers with fittings. add CO2 to all the containers and a few of the food grade solenoids from a post-mix dispenser and you would have something highly sanitary and sanatisable, hold much larger amounts of "juice" and sustain a long life.
Outside the CO2 regulator you could get everything you need for around $300.00 including a filled 25 pound CO2 cylinder.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I'm sure to get modded down/censored, but I really want to know? A story about a machine for pouring juice?!?!?! I mean come on... Stuff for nerds, stuff that snores.
Hows about we just pop over to see what Computerworld has on the boil...
- New N1 grid s/w from Sun
- Virtualization code directly added to windows
- "A Pragmatic Approach to Implementing ITIL Using ProactiveNet" - jeeze, I'm not really sure what *thats* about, but it sure does sound more interesting that mixing juice.
And what about google news Sci/Tech?- Astronaut comments on NASA delaying flight
- Life on mars
- Tiger
Nope - I'm a loyal slashdotter, and I think I'll stick around to see if soommmethinggggg goooooooodzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzZZZZZZZzzzZZ ZZZzzZZZZzzZZZZzzzZZZZMoreover, it cost less and allowed us to spend more of the allotted budget on making the frame structure more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
I was going to comment on how close they came to this goal, but then based on some of the case mods I've seen, the torn-label Poland Spring bottles and electrical tape contraption does seem to come pretty close to a geek's idea of eye-candy.
Now if only they had spent a little more to line the insides of the plastic bottles with blue neon...
Hervé This (a molecular gastronomer) built a machine which, given the ingredients and a formula, makes the sauce. You can make mayonaise (the formula is H\E) or meringues for example. Of course you have to know the formula.
_ oct03.htm
http://www.chemsoc.org/chembytes/ezine/2003/burke
"Meanwhile, This is working with the Institut für Micromechanik in Mainz, Germany, on a prototype of a machine that makes dishes from a 'calculus of recipes'." -- The machine exists now.
I've got one.
Not only is it wireless, it makes an instant but highly detailed examination of your taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the brain to see what is likely to be well recieved.
However, I'm not quite sure why it does this, because it then invariably delivers a cupful of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike orange juice.
Last time I ever buy something from Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.
It's like deja vu all over again.
Otherwise how does it make a Margerita? :-)
:-D
Re the post on Juicer virii, it could be kind of cool if, say, your date ended up with a triple vodka on the rocks rather than whatever non-fun thing she had requested.
That's if she didn't run out the door after seeing how incredibly geeky you were whilst showing her your collection of smoothies.
It's OK Bender, there's no such thing as 2.
What's the point of having a wireless link-- eventually you have to go to it to get the drink. What it needs is a radio direction-finder and a throwing arm. Caps for the drinks too.
When the 'Drink' button is pressed it makes an instant but highly detailed examination of the subject's taste buds, a spectroscopic analysis of the subject's metabolism, and then sends tiny experimental signals down the neural pathways to the taste centres of the subject's brain to see what is likely to be well recieved. However, no-one knows quite why it does this because it then invariably delivers a cupful of liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea. (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy entry on "Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser")
Overall, not a bad report, compared to some I've seen(and written). And no, that aluminum mixing trough ain't kosher. Acid+Aluminum = funk
Bacardi + slashdot = negative karma.
Wireless communication is controlled with two microcontrollers operating at a frequency of 433 MHz.
The last thing I need to explain to my older neighbors is that my juicer crashed their wireless weather station.